Book 3 Chapter 3.2 - Righteousness In Vengeance
He took a step back, letting the woman fall weakly onto the ground. She continuously trembled while whimpering. He fetched a napkin from his pocket, and while wiping off the bloodstains on the whip's handle, he asked the remaining four women, "Which one of you can tell me where Kafen's money is? I like honest people. In front of my face, there will definitely be benefits in speaking the truth.
All of the women, including the one on the floor, maintained their silence, not answering Tidan's question.
Tidan seemed to have quite the patience. He pointed to Ricardo in the distance and said to them, "It's better if you all stop your delusions. There's no one here to save you, not from dragonrider headquarters, not from the Blood Parliament, and there's even less of a chance of it happening from Kafen's friends. In fact, I highly doubt that Kafen had any friends. Even if he did, they were probably all killed by the people over there. Do you see that fellow carrying the machine cannon? That's the one that killed Kafen, your husband, your father, and sold you all to me. My name is Tidan, all of you better remember it. A smart person wouldn't forget their new owner's name."
Su's eyebrows frowned slightly, and this time, not even Ricardo detected it. A nonchalant smile rested on his face, and the machine cannon supported under his ribs lightly swayed back and forth.
Tidan's rough voice continued to resound through the air. "Purchasing you all cost me quite a bit of money. If I sold all of you as slaves, then I would be taking a 20 percent loss. However, the profits that I expect from this transaction should be 50 percent! How about this, whoever tells me where Kafen's wealth is hidden, I will let that person go free. In addition, for every 10 percent profit after that, I will allow another person of her choosing to be freed! All of you are smart women, so you should know what I am trying to say. Right now, let me inspect my goods first!"
Tidan raised his right hand, pointing his demon-like finger towards the huddled up children. Only after swaying behind a few times did it descend. Two robust mercenaries immediately appeared from behind Tidan and dragged a ten or so year old girl out until she was facing Tidan.
There were three women who clearly released a breath of relief, but there was one woman who tightly clenched her uniform.
Su knew what was going to happen without even seeing it for himself. He took a deep breath and said in a dull voice, "Is this necessary?"
"It is!" Ricardo grabbed Su's arm, not allowing him to act blindly without thinking. When he spoke again, it was with an unquestionable tone. "Maria is an extravagant woman who not only didn't put aside any savings, but also took on a large amount of debt. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Colonel Kafen was a good father and husband who didn't squander his money. He definitely left enough assets for his women and children, which is why Tidan would focus most of his attention here. I brought you here precisely to have you see the process yourself. The prohibition of earnings from internal struggles makes revenge the principle of justice. From the very first day, every single dragonrider learned clearly that they do not only have duties and responsibilities towards themselves, but also to their subordinates and family. During an internal struggle, once the challenged won, then they have the right to take revenge on the enemy's relatives and subordinates. Su, those are the rules of the game, so we must comply with them, and we must also uphold them! This is why every single dragonrider has to continuously become stronger, especially dragonriders without a family backing them. Only those individuals that gave up on their individual strength and work for general headquarters would receive protection from general headquarters, making them exempt from this rule. I believe you should understand this reasoning. Isn't your sadistic slaughter towards Kafen and Maria precisely for intimidating hidden enemies?"
Su said in a downcast voice, "That's different. Kafen and Maria were both soldiers."
"There's not much of a difference. It is an unwritten rule that soldiers' families are the same as soldiers themselves." Ricardo's voice was extremely cold.
"They are just women and children without any abilities!" Su replied. At this moment, the little girl had already been stripped naked, and her tender body was turning red under the frigid wind. Mournful crying echoed far into the distance. However, most of the people surrounding this place had an indifferent coldness, and a small portion were even appreciating her body that had yet to mature.
Ricardo firmly grabbed Su's arm and said, "Women are just tools to vent out our desires and produce children. In addition, they are Kafen's children. Do you want them to find you after they grow up to carry revenge out on your women or children? That's why their end will either be through becoming slaves or dying. This is something me and Tidan already reached an understanding for! When Kafen accepted the contract to kill us, he should have already understood the consequences of defeat."
Ricardo's grip became tighter and tighter. He continued in an ice cold voice, "Do you know why I am here, moreover protecting Tidan's actions? It is because at the very least, I am the first rank inheritor of the Fabregas family, even if it is only in name. Anyone that interferes with my matters now is not much different than directly opposing the Fabregas family! Everyone knows that dragonrider lieutenant colonels are pieces of fatty meat, and Kafen is especially so. Lieutenant Commander Su, if it was only you here, then you would find that the number of those interfering would be much greater. What would you do then? Kill everyone here? Do you have the strength to oppose everyone inside Dragon City? If you die, what would happen to your subordinates? Do you wish for them to become like the people before your eyes right now?"
Su was silent without making any movements. However, there was still an explosive power brewing within him. Ricardo's tone became a bit gentler. He released his hold on Su's arm and said, "Su, think about it for a bit. You aren't God, and neither am I. It is already quite amazing to be able to take care of those at our side."
Su took a deep breath, and his body calmed down. Tidan suddenly turned around and released an eerie chuckle in Su's direction. It seemed like he had been paying close attention to this side's activity this entire time.
Towards this obscure type of provocation, Su's reply was just a serene look. Then, the moment their eyes, met, Su's green pupil suddenly shrunk into a cross shape. From within the depths of that green radiance, one could only feel an endless chilliness!
In reality, there weren't any changes to Su's body temperature. The icy coldness that was emitted from his pupil should just be an illusion, yet Tidan immediately felt his body freezing up! He suddenly took a step back, almost falling onto the ground, and only then did he break free from Su's heavy and sticky gaze that seemed to almost possess the power to shatter one's soul.
The soldiers under Tidan immediately ran over to help him up. Only after taking a moment to compose himself did his expression gradually recover; however, cold sweat already soaked through his tight close-fitted clothes. He no longer dared to give Su a look, and he already understood clearly that provoking Su was definitely not a sensible decision. Underneath Su's pretty exterior might quite possibly be a fiendish heart.
Su suppressed the anger rising within him with some difficulty. This wasn't his intention, but rather his body's instinctive reaction, just like a wild beast whose honor had been challenged. Just as his mood was feeling slightly agitated, Su suddenly felt a faint stinging sensation coming from his cheek. This wasn't a real feeling, but rather something similar to what he felt when he was aimed at before, only much weaker.
Su's mind was a bit shaken. Without even taking the time to think about it, he immediately tilted his heads back slightly to barely avoid being aimed at. The front sight once moved in a nimble manner, once again locking onto Su's head. The feeling of being targeted this time was much different from when he was aimed at by an ordinary sniper. Not only was the feeling rather vague, the original position where the shooter aimed from seemed to be constantly changing as well, making it almost impossible for him to lock onto the sniper's position. Even if it was a Black Dragonrider that had experienced strict anti-sniping training, they would find that even if they knew they were being aimed at, they still wouldn't be able to produce any effective countermeasures. Dragonriders with slightly weaker perception abilities might only realize they were being sniped at after the bullet already entered their bodies.
This was without a doubt an extremely outstanding sniper that far surpassed all sniping specialists Su had encountered in the past. These abilities that could interfere with the other party's reactions and conceal oneself were things not even Su possessed. This sniper's specialty should be precisely to hunt those anti-sniping specialists.
Su's body lightly swayed about, continuously moving away from the point of target, each time stopping once he barely avoided the sniper's aim. After avoiding the sniper's targeting several times, Su suddenly turned around. His green eye formed an invisible line that streaked across the boundless city constructs before finally landing on a seemingly unremarkable building. His long and fine fingers lightly moved to his military knife.
The feeling of being targeted thus vanished.